Right after graduation, I started working at my mother's pharmacy (she is a pharmacist). I worked 6 days a week - trying to learn some responsibility - and that was quite hard! I work 3 days a week now and go to school full time as well, and it is even harder.
I had a hard time picking a college because I had no clue what I wanted to do when I first graduated. I wound up going to Brooklyn College because it was within driving distance: my parents bought me a car as a graduation present and I just had to use it! At Brooklyn College, I planned to major in speech therapy and minor in psychology. I followed that route for about a year, but it felt like something wasn't right, like neither of these fields were really for me. Although they are both wonderful fields, they really did not match my personality.
A WELCOME CHANGE
I transferred to Hunter College a short while later and decided that my primary goal in life is to become a nurse. This decision had not dawned me in some daydream but developed over a long period of time. I always knew that I really wanted to help people as much as possible and the atmosphere of a pharmacy just wasn't for me. I wanted to do more: to really be involved with patients and, since I'm a very health conscious person, I really wanted to help people improve their health. I volunteered at a hospital once a week, and I really felt that a lot of things there were not done properly at all. The patients were frequently neglected and some nurses didn't care about them one bit. After witnessing all that, I knew that this was the field for me! It just felt so right to know that someday soon I would be making someone smile and comforting them and telling them that they will be alright. Of course that is not all there is to nursing but it is a huge part!
Looking back on my first year of college, (I'm an upper junior already!) my advice to others would be not to rush into something, but to REALLY explore the field you want to go into because you will change your mind 1000 times. Trust me!
CHALLENGES
At Hunter, which is where I am currently enrolled, I decided to take some Hebrew classes (in addition to all those science classes, oy!) and that was a very shocking experience. My teacher was not religious at all and constantly blamed the Jews for everything. It made me so angry! She gave me a B- for that class because I spoke out so much against her, but I knew I was doing the right thing. It also made me realize how much I care about being Jewish and how special I felt knowing all the things we learned in BHI: how proud we should be of ourselves because we are Jewish princesses. I started thinking more about spirituality and I'm always working on becoming a better person.
I miss BHI a lot. It was a home away from home. College is very different and can make change people a lot, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Had I not attended yeshiva (BHI) my whole life, I don't know where my moral structure would be. I am very grateful to all the people who helped shaped what I am today. Thank you.
Another issue I would like to address is that in high school I had an eating disorder. Those who know me know that it's true, and those who don't, know this: it's a scary thing. I want to tell people that it's serious and I thank G-d everyday that I am over it and am healthy (bli ayin hara). Even my friends might not have known it entirely, but I had a serious obsession with becoming skinny and eating practically nothing. I only ate fat-free things and I had to pay a big price for that after high school. I am sharing this with you because if any of you are going through something like this, please email me and I will be more then happy to talk to you and try to help. I had serious stomach problems at the end of high school and after a while my family and the people who really cared about me helped me stop the madness. These days I eat everything in moderation and exercise moderately (not everyday like I used to do). The point of all this is to tell everyone out there to PLEASE LOVE YOURSELF FOR WHO YOU ARE and for WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE and DONT CHANGE YOURSELF FOR ANYONE. G-d made us all different for a reason and we should embrace those differences and love ourselves no matter what.
ON A FINAL NOTE
I have 2 yrs of nursing school left and I'm very excited!!! It's very hard but I'm getting good grades (knock on wood!). I'm pre-clinical right now and I'm dissecting all sorts of cool things. If anyone is thinking about going into this field, feel free to email me!!
My fondest BHI memories are of my classmates and all the fun things we did, like the boom box days when we danced around. Everything with them was so much fun. I miss you, I really do!!!! My message to my fellow alums is: BE NICE TO EACH OTHER and DONT LOSE TOUCH!!! And no matter how difficult things get in life, remember that there is always a positive side and always a way around the problem.
